A World of Ice and Doh!

The weatherman warned us of a night of freezing rain, and I believed him. I was all prepared for whatever might come our way. I made sure to grab all my sermon notes, bulletin templates, PowerPoint slides, and everything else I might need and put it on my thumb drive. I packed everything into my briefcase along with the laptop so that I could work from home today if the roads were too icy. My car was parked on the street -- at the bottom of our long sloping driveway to avoid having to skid down it in case I braved the trip into the office.


As it turns out, the weatherman was right. (I know, I know... that's a pretty rare occurance in Virginia, it seems.) It's actually kind of beautiful; the branches are all coated in a glistening layer of ice and the view out the back windows is spectacular.

But there's one problem: I left my briefcase at work. Doh!

That's okay, though. God is so incredibly wise and good. He knew exactly what I needed today, and it did not involve going into the office. You see, it's been kind of a hard week. I'm not sure why, really. The early part of the week was filled with lots of "to do" list stuff, and that always kind of drains me. And for some reason it's been a week where a lot of people needed little bits and pieces of my time, so my routine was pretty jumbled up. But I got a lot of projects completed and cleared from my desk, which is nice.

Unfortunately, working on this coming Sunday's message has been a real bear. Again, I'm not sure why. I've often described working on a weekly message as either a trip to a well in which I simply lower a bucket and draw out something that is sweet and refreshing, or else it's like going into a dark mine and hammering away at stone waiting for it to yield its treasure. Sometimes it just happens smoothly and easily, and sometimes it's laborious and exhausting. God is always a part of it, whether it's easy or difficult, and I always learn something from the experience.

Well, this week it's been mining. And as the week has worn on, and as I've been chipping away at the text and trying to figure out what God wants me to say, I've found myself growing more and more impatient. Grouchy, even. (Yes, you can pity my family now.) Didn't God realize that I needed to get this thing done? Now? I'm behind schedule, I've got a very full Saturday, we're hosting our Hope Group and our neighbors for the Super Bowl (yay for building contagious relationships!), etc. I really needed to finish my sermon prep, but it just wasn't coming together.

Then, this morning, as I started with a blank slate (because I left all my work in my briefcase in the office), I tried again. Suddenly and immediately, God's Spirit took over and it just flowed. It's like I've been picking away at this stone all week hoping to hit gold, and God simply stepped in, scratched the rock in a different place, and revealed something wondrous. I'm really, really looking forward to what he has in store for us on Sunday!

Oh, sure, there are still some chores to take care of -- getting the bulletin copied, putting together the music and sermon slides, etc. -- but that will just have to be squeezed into Saturday afternoon somehow. In the meantime, I suddenly find myself with a few hours of genuine rest on my hands. I thought I'd be rushing until the last minute, but God stepped in and blessed me by refreshing my spirit and letting me catch my breath at the end of a challenging week.

There's nothing quite as sweet as looking out the window on a rainy, glistening day while sipping a cup of espresso and just listening to the hush of the world all around... Thank you, Father!